Slavko Ziherl, M.D., Ph.D

MD, PhD, specialist in psychiatry, senior advisor

Slavko Ziherl graduated from the Ljubljana Faculty of Medicine in 1970, and specialised in neuropsychiatry at the Ljubljana Psychiatric Hospital in 1976 and in psychiatry in the Netherlands in 1993. He has a Ph.D in the field of psychiatry. He was specialising in psychiatry in Great Britain for one year, and attended advanced studies in the USA, Great Britain and Canada.

From 1978 to 1990 he was the Head of the Centre for Treatment of Alcohol Addiction of the University Psychiatric Hospital in Ljubljana, and from 1994 to 1996 he was the Head of the Centre for Clinical Psychiatry of the University Psychiatric Hospital, and until 1998 he was the Medical Director of the Psychiatric Hospital of the University Medical Centre. After the independence of the Ljubljana Psychiatric Hospital, he was the general director until 2000 and since 2004 he has been the medical director of this hospital. Since 1976 he has been working in the outpatient clinic for treating sexual disorders, and since 1996 he has also been the Head of the clinic.

He has been a university teacher of psychiatry at the Ljubljana Faculty of Medicine since 1997, and since 1996 he has been the holder of the subject Forensic Psychopathology at the Ljubljana Faculty of Law. He has been heading postgraduate studies for psychotherapy at the Ljubljana Faculty of Medicine since 1994. He is the holder of the subject Forensic psychiatry for the master’s degree in criminal law at the Faculty of Law. He also holds lectures in psychopathology at the postgraduate level at the Ljubljana Faculty of Medicine. He is the national coordinator for specialisation in psychiatry and the chief mentor to the specialists of psychiatry.

He was a member of the Health Council at the Ministry of Health (1997-2002). Since 1999 he has been a member of the Committee for Expert Medical Issues at the Medical Chamber of Slovenia. From 1996 to 2000 he was the President of the Association of Psychiatrists for the first time, and since 2004 he has been re-elected for the President of the Association of Psychiatrists. He is the President of the Extended Expert Council for Psychiatry. Since 1995 he has been the representative of the Association of Psychiatrists and Slovenian health care centres in U.E.M.S., Section of Psychiatry and the EBP. Since 2001 he has been the Vice-President of the EBP.

He is the author of the book on controlling alcohol, the book on autohypnosis, several chapters in professional literature, as well as the co-editor and author of several chapters in the textbook Psychiatry, and he translated 10 psychological handbooks from English. His bibliography amounts to more than 190 units. He publishes his articles in newspapers and magazines as well as appears on the radio and television.

He was born in Ljubljana in 1945. He lives in Ljubljana, and he is married and has two children.